With the Great Sheng empress on the throne, the Ziwei Star stirs, and the dynasty’s fortune hangs by a thread.
The court is consumed by an endless struggle over the succession. The empress’s relatives wield great power, the noble clans are deeply entrenched, and the Northern Abyss beyond the borders secretly covets the land’s hidden power. Xie Qingyan, a central court lady official with no family connections to rely on, is ordered by the emperor to choose a husband, and is drawn into the turmoil engulfing the realm.
The entire court fawns over the princes and nobles. Even the Northern Abyss crown prince comes to seek her hand, yet she chooses Lu Zhifeng, the son of a disgraced general whom the world condemns.
Lu Zhifeng bears the martial lineage passed down through his family of generals, biding his time in the bitter cold of the frontier. Xie Qingyan serves at the heart of the court, wielding nothing but brush and paper to see through people and navigate the competing factions.
After years of lying low, the hidden dragons finally have their chance to emerge. Just as the kind-hearted heir seems poised to restore order to a chaotic world, a conspiracy hatched in secret shatters all their plans.
The pieces fall upon the celestial court’s chessboard. The fate of the realm has never rested with Heaven’s will, but with the people themselves.
